Free time
June 12, 2023 6:35 AM Subscribe
School's out for summer. A friend graduated from high school this weekend, and I asked her what she was going to do with all her free time, and she said "sleep in!". And then proceeded to list all the things she had to do this week. Here's our Monday free thread!
Mrs Glaucon and I saw the Flaming Lips last night. What a show, and so much positive energy. A nice cap to the weekend and an energizing way to move into this week. I’m hoping to see Fleet Foxes tomorrow night. We’ve been spoiled with concerts here of late.
posted by glaucon at 6:47 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by glaucon at 6:47 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
I watched half of "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout" (my first "M:I" movie ever) this weekend. It was way less tense than I expected, though the action was non-stop. I cannot believe that this city of Paris let them film all those crazy chase scenes: it has to be green-screen, right?
Also, Simon Pegg was marvelous.
Anyway, every time Tom Cruise said that they were fighting a global conspiracy/cult with one madman at its core, I would murmur, "Like Scientology? Is it Scientology, Tom?"
I had a ball, and can't wait to watch the other half.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:55 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Also, Simon Pegg was marvelous.
Anyway, every time Tom Cruise said that they were fighting a global conspiracy/cult with one madman at its core, I would murmur, "Like Scientology? Is it Scientology, Tom?"
I had a ball, and can't wait to watch the other half.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:55 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Did a 42 mile bike ride on Saturday, and my knees are fine. I'll still be wearing elastic knee braces for the rest of the rides this season (including RAGBRAI) but I'm more confident that I can do RAGBRAI. Also did a 3 mile walk yesterday and that was fine, too.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:08 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:08 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
I got a new bike! Took my first decently long bike ride since getting past Covid yesterday, 20 miles with a couple of good hill climbs to start. All went well and I’m ready to start ramping up again. However, when I was climbing the hill, one I’ve done quite a few times over the last few months, my legs were like, “remember that it’s been four weeks since you climbed this hill? We certainly do.” But it looks like I’m cleared to go again and that’s a good thing. The hard part is going to be getting enough training in during the summer. It’s been a not-so-hot start to the summer but I know that won’t last. We’re supposed to get up near 105 this weekend and that’s more normal. It’s just too hot to do much strenuous outdoor activity in the summer unless you can escape to the high country, which is also susceptible to heat waves. The new bike is a gravel bike so I hope I can find some place that’s cool enough to ride the paths. Once things cool down in October, though, everything will be rideable, including Patagonia.
posted by azpenguin at 7:11 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 7:11 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I was supposed to go see the blues artist Taj Mahal in a free concert on Wednesday, but they cancelled because of the smoke....but rescheduled for tonight. Which was awesome.
....Except now it's supposed to rain tonight. Like, properly rain.
I still have my picnic blanket with me and will at least head in that direction after work, but we'll see. (If nothing else, I also know where there's a Juneberry tree near the venue, and I can pick some before heading home if it cancels.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:13 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
....Except now it's supposed to rain tonight. Like, properly rain.
I still have my picnic blanket with me and will at least head in that direction after work, but we'll see. (If nothing else, I also know where there's a Juneberry tree near the venue, and I can pick some before heading home if it cancels.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:13 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah my kid graduated high school as well and I really need him to get a job to not drive us nuts for the next 10 weeks. A lot of places don't want to train help that's going to disappear in two months and I don't blame them.
But it also seems like a lot of places now use online chatbots to run the application process to varying degrees of success and the kid has been rejected from a number of "now hiring!" places on what seem to be technical issues alone.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:14 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
But it also seems like a lot of places now use online chatbots to run the application process to varying degrees of success and the kid has been rejected from a number of "now hiring!" places on what seem to be technical issues alone.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:14 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
About 6 weeks ago I bought an 18' box truck. I'm building a tiny home in it. This is a crazy thing to do and is way outside my comfort zone. I'm having the time of my life.
posted by Horkus at 7:14 AM on June 12, 2023 [34 favorites]
posted by Horkus at 7:14 AM on June 12, 2023 [34 favorites]
I am on the train from Cornwall to Brussels. It would likely make more sense for me not to be and to call in for 30 minutes tomorrow, but not to be. I get in at about 22.40 tonight. On the night train for the return journey tomorrow night, so that's nice. Bit pedestrian as these things go but could be my last EU funded trip for a while. Thanks Rishi. Not sure why it's in Brussels, virtually all the partners are in more appealing places.
Holidays at the end of next week though. Very much looking to get the lid nailed down on some other long projects before I go.
posted by biffa at 7:17 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Holidays at the end of next week though. Very much looking to get the lid nailed down on some other long projects before I go.
posted by biffa at 7:17 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah my kid graduated high school as well and I really need him to get a job ...
One of my kids just finished his first year of college and was applying for jobs.
The local hospital chain forces all applicants into a portal that only asks whether or not you have a CNA. He has an EMT license, but there's nowhere to indicate that so he can't even apply for any jobs at any of their sites.
Then he cold-called an urgent care place and they were delighted to interview him.
NoOnE wAnTs To Work, or no one wants to pay enough staff to do HR properly?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:20 AM on June 12, 2023 [36 favorites]
One of my kids just finished his first year of college and was applying for jobs.
The local hospital chain forces all applicants into a portal that only asks whether or not you have a CNA. He has an EMT license, but there's nowhere to indicate that so he can't even apply for any jobs at any of their sites.
Then he cold-called an urgent care place and they were delighted to interview him.
NoOnE wAnTs To Work, or no one wants to pay enough staff to do HR properly?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:20 AM on June 12, 2023 [36 favorites]
Horkus, will you do a MeFi Projects post about your truck?
The planning & construction work in these projects endlessly fascinates me, and I would get a kick out of following your notebooks!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:21 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
The planning & construction work in these projects endlessly fascinates me, and I would get a kick out of following your notebooks!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:21 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
My kid applied for a front counter job at the local park district swimming pool, a minimum wage job just scanning people's passcards, and the online application gizmo wanted a resume and a cover letter. Good lord.
I am very adept at UPC and Code 39 barcodes but have not been trained in Code 128
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I am very adept at UPC and Code 39 barcodes but have not been trained in Code 128
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Last week, while short-staffed due to the usual summer-time-off (that's going to happen more as things go along), I had to take over a tech support ticket for the guy on vacation, in which, summarized, the following happened:
One thing I did get done was because after an oil change on Wednesday discovered a bulging lower radiator hose, decided that was a simple enough project to do on my own -- $20 hose, $20 of fresh, clean antifreeze, and a half hour under the car, should be easy enough.
Well, as you can guess, it took over an hour, and I managed to get one half of me drenched in antifreeze due to a rube goldberg level event. It was cool out and I'd be lying on my driveway, so I was wearing an old jacket, and I did have the bucket in the right position to catch the antifreeze, but when I disconnected the hose, the coolant instead ran down my hand and wrist, inside my jacket sleeve. Now, if I didn't have a sleeve, it would have just dripped off my elbow, but now it's running down the inside of my jacket sleeve, where it met my t-shirt sleeve and ran inside my shirt, and because I'm on my back it pooled in my armpit, so when I stood up it ran down my torso and soaked the top of my pants. It wasn't a lot of antifreeze but any spilled liquid looks like 10x the amount that's actually there, so it sucked but wasn't too catastrophic of an event.
On the other hand, I had some non-sucky things happen, in that the 2nd TV show episode I worked on as a PA aired and I got to watch the result of all my hard work of getting lunches and carrying stuff around pay off, and then I got a good grade on my first video editing project for college, so you take the good, you take the bad, something something, here on Gilligan's Isle.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:37 AM on June 12, 2023 [14 favorites]
- An error was discovered regarding a file not being able to be accessed after it was created;
- We suspected it was antivirus locking the file, preventing continuing writes
- On top of the 20 hours my tech spent on it, I spent 20 hours in Teams meetings and other support sessions trying every other possible solution because they don't want to change the antivirus settings
- Upon which they finally agree to apply the antivirus exception to the specific folder where this is happening
- The problem stops
- They spend another day scheduling downtime and Teams meetings because they want to try removing the exception, because 'a lot of other changes were made in that time, maybe that is what fixed it and the antivirus exception was a coincidence'
- Removing the exception breaks the system again
- They agree to leave the exception in place.
One thing I did get done was because after an oil change on Wednesday discovered a bulging lower radiator hose, decided that was a simple enough project to do on my own -- $20 hose, $20 of fresh, clean antifreeze, and a half hour under the car, should be easy enough.
Well, as you can guess, it took over an hour, and I managed to get one half of me drenched in antifreeze due to a rube goldberg level event. It was cool out and I'd be lying on my driveway, so I was wearing an old jacket, and I did have the bucket in the right position to catch the antifreeze, but when I disconnected the hose, the coolant instead ran down my hand and wrist, inside my jacket sleeve. Now, if I didn't have a sleeve, it would have just dripped off my elbow, but now it's running down the inside of my jacket sleeve, where it met my t-shirt sleeve and ran inside my shirt, and because I'm on my back it pooled in my armpit, so when I stood up it ran down my torso and soaked the top of my pants. It wasn't a lot of antifreeze but any spilled liquid looks like 10x the amount that's actually there, so it sucked but wasn't too catastrophic of an event.
On the other hand, I had some non-sucky things happen, in that the 2nd TV show episode I worked on as a PA aired and I got to watch the result of all my hard work of getting lunches and carrying stuff around pay off, and then I got a good grade on my first video editing project for college, so you take the good, you take the bad, something something, here on Gilligan's Isle.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:37 AM on June 12, 2023 [14 favorites]
AzraelBrown, did you get super powers from the chemical spill?!
WILL YOU FIGHT FOR GOOD, OR FOR EVEIL?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:39 AM on June 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
WILL YOU FIGHT FOR GOOD, OR FOR EVEIL?
posted by wenestvedt at 7:39 AM on June 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
I'm assuming they can endure low temperatures now, but only down to -40C.
Also their scelera are now florescent green.
posted by bonehead at 7:43 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Also their scelera are now florescent green.
posted by bonehead at 7:43 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Sadly, no super powers, just got that weird combination of sticky AND oily that comes from antifreeze, plus an excuse to walk around the house naked, from the laundry room to the shower, since literally everything I was wearing (except socks and shoes) was antifreezed. Whether walking around the house naked is considered 'good' or 'evil' probably depends on whether that's the sort of thing you like seeing or not.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:44 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:44 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I generally stay up until midnight, my wife is in bed by ten, so every night I have a couple hours that I usually spend watching TV. I have started watching movies that I remember watching as a kid but haven't seen since. As a kid, I thought they were all amazing but as an adult I can see that most of them are really terrible.
I watched all the Airport movies. The original is literally about an airport. '75 is the best and has a few scenes that were parodied in Airplane! pretty much word for word. '77 has a good rescue scene but also a lot of Navy propaganda. '79 is... awful. Just the absolute worst. I thought it was so good when I was nine years old.
I watched Earthquake. Also terrible.
Now I am watching the Rocky movies. I am on #5 but not sure I will finish it. The original Rocky isn't very good. You have a dumb street thug and then all of a sudden the heavyweight champ of the world picks him out of a catalog to fight. This is not a very good premise for a movie. Rocky II is just... boring. Rocky III is the best one. Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. What's not to love? By #3 Rocky is somehow smarter and can read. Rocky IV has... a robot? There's a robot in Rocky IV. Also the strongest man in the world who can punch through a truck but Rocky somehow beats him because he's American I guess. I'm about 20 minutes into Rocky V. I can tell it's gonna be bad.
As far as I can tell so far, Rocky's kid's name is "The Kid."
posted by bondcliff at 7:58 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I watched all the Airport movies. The original is literally about an airport. '75 is the best and has a few scenes that were parodied in Airplane! pretty much word for word. '77 has a good rescue scene but also a lot of Navy propaganda. '79 is... awful. Just the absolute worst. I thought it was so good when I was nine years old.
I watched Earthquake. Also terrible.
Now I am watching the Rocky movies. I am on #5 but not sure I will finish it. The original Rocky isn't very good. You have a dumb street thug and then all of a sudden the heavyweight champ of the world picks him out of a catalog to fight. This is not a very good premise for a movie. Rocky II is just... boring. Rocky III is the best one. Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. What's not to love? By #3 Rocky is somehow smarter and can read. Rocky IV has... a robot? There's a robot in Rocky IV. Also the strongest man in the world who can punch through a truck but Rocky somehow beats him because he's American I guess. I'm about 20 minutes into Rocky V. I can tell it's gonna be bad.
As far as I can tell so far, Rocky's kid's name is "The Kid."
posted by bondcliff at 7:58 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Good morning. We're getting a new dryer today (pretty much the same model as before, but 100% electric), and also, supposedly, some rain! Hopefully it helps clear out much of the remaining smoke in the air.
Today's feel-good story from New Jersey
posted by May Kasahara at 8:00 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Today's feel-good story from New Jersey
posted by May Kasahara at 8:00 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
I watched Earthquake. Also terrible.
Now do The Towering Inferno!
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:12 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Now do The Towering Inferno!
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:12 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
JoeZydeco: Yeah my kid graduated high school as well and I really need him to get a job to not drive us nuts for the next 10 weeks. A lot of places don't want to train help that's going to disappear in two months and I don't blame them.
... couple the above with this story from the CBC:
How have we arrived at a point where it ISN'T normal for a high-school- or uni-undergraduate-age kid to work at least part of the summer, and we now need to bring in literally indentured temporary foreign workers to fill those seasonal jobs?
(it's raining, there's no-one on my lawn, so nothing else to complain about)
posted by Artful Codger at 8:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
... couple the above with this story from the CBC:
Rocky Mountain employers in Alberta see major boost in temporary foreign worker approvalsThis blows my elderly mind.
Ottawa has eased limits across country, especially in food services, accommodation
How have we arrived at a point where it ISN'T normal for a high-school- or uni-undergraduate-age kid to work at least part of the summer, and we now need to bring in literally indentured temporary foreign workers to fill those seasonal jobs?
(it's raining, there's no-one on my lawn, so nothing else to complain about)
posted by Artful Codger at 8:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Currently mourning the loss of my four-footed friend Wolfgang. He lived a good long life but I'll miss him. Finally getting to watch She-Ra all the way through helps a lot.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 8:24 AM on June 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 8:24 AM on June 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
My family is playing the new Zelda together on our Switches. My Brother and sister-in-law, my two nephews (29 &25) the older nephew's girlfriend, and a cousin of ours in Seattle. We have an open text thread where we are exchanging tips and tricks and things we like/dislike.
It is a lot of fun. I used to play the earlier Zelda's for my nephews when they were little--they would watch over my shoulder and cheer me on. Then I would cheer them on when they started being able to play themselves. (later, we were in a WOW guild together).
I was complaining that I really don't like the voice acting for some of the characters (sages particularly) and they suggested that I change the voice language to Japanese. It makes a difference. My sister-in-law who is not really a gamer, saw that and decided to try it out, but instead changed the SYSTEM language to Japanese! She then could not read any of the instructions so she called me for tech support. The work-around I came up with was for me to open the same screens on my Switch while we were on the phone and then say, "Click on the fourth title on the left," "Now, toggle right and click on the third item," etc. etc. until we got her to the language screen and she could click on English. It worked! Then I walked her through changing just the voices in the game.
I have way too many hours into the game because I keep getting distracted by all the fun side quests (I want all the horses), and figuring out the new "economy" in order to keep myself well supplied. The world(s) are huge and incredibly well done, the whole "build your own stuff" abilities are very cool.
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:24 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
It is a lot of fun. I used to play the earlier Zelda's for my nephews when they were little--they would watch over my shoulder and cheer me on. Then I would cheer them on when they started being able to play themselves. (later, we were in a WOW guild together).
I was complaining that I really don't like the voice acting for some of the characters (sages particularly) and they suggested that I change the voice language to Japanese. It makes a difference. My sister-in-law who is not really a gamer, saw that and decided to try it out, but instead changed the SYSTEM language to Japanese! She then could not read any of the instructions so she called me for tech support. The work-around I came up with was for me to open the same screens on my Switch while we were on the phone and then say, "Click on the fourth title on the left," "Now, toggle right and click on the third item," etc. etc. until we got her to the language screen and she could click on English. It worked! Then I walked her through changing just the voices in the game.
I have way too many hours into the game because I keep getting distracted by all the fun side quests (I want all the horses), and figuring out the new "economy" in order to keep myself well supplied. The world(s) are huge and incredibly well done, the whole "build your own stuff" abilities are very cool.
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:24 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Last month I flew back to my home state to visit family. One highlight was spending half a day with my nephew who is a structural engineer. We visited two construction sites of buildings he designed. One will 66 stories tall, the other 80. They're just two blocks apart. We walked around the sites but didn't enter. He explained all about the underlying geology, how concrete is much stronger now than just a few years ago, and how these buildings improbably stand up. Prior to the trip I read (and highly recommend) Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down.
Also, in a rural area that I drove through there was a wind farm with the big turbines. I wondered how close I could get to one of the towers so I went down a gravel road. Answer: not close enough. After I returned home, I learned that my cousin is hosting a few big turbines on his ranch, which I will be sure to visit next trip.
posted by neuron at 8:28 AM on June 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
Also, in a rural area that I drove through there was a wind farm with the big turbines. I wondered how close I could get to one of the towers so I went down a gravel road. Answer: not close enough. After I returned home, I learned that my cousin is hosting a few big turbines on his ranch, which I will be sure to visit next trip.
posted by neuron at 8:28 AM on June 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
Honestly, one of the bigger motivators for my movie blog is that I'm finally seeing all the films I didn't get to see but wanted to or was always told I should, or wanted to re-watch.
It's gonna be really interesting when I hit the 80s and start re-watching things I saw in theaters back in the day....some bits of things have not aged well. (I had a bit of an awkward moment when I was showing my roommate Meatballs and had totally forgotten about a scene where Tripper makes a really heavy and pretty much unwanted pass at Roxanne.)
I've also on occasion started catching up on films that didn't make the "1001 Movies" list cut - like Dark City. Nifty concept, but towards the end two people have a fight where they're projecting mind-rays at each other and that totally lost me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:33 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
It's gonna be really interesting when I hit the 80s and start re-watching things I saw in theaters back in the day....some bits of things have not aged well. (I had a bit of an awkward moment when I was showing my roommate Meatballs and had totally forgotten about a scene where Tripper makes a really heavy and pretty much unwanted pass at Roxanne.)
I've also on occasion started catching up on films that didn't make the "1001 Movies" list cut - like Dark City. Nifty concept, but towards the end two people have a fight where they're projecting mind-rays at each other and that totally lost me.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:33 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Figure / life / art modeling gigs are kinda light on my calendar right now. MeMail me if you're in a figure drawing group / know of a group based in Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts and you / they need a model!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:38 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:38 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
If I had a super power I would use it to send all this extra Colorado rain to Canada. The creek behind my apartment is getting steadily higher and while it's not overflowing a lot of the critters seem to be disturbed, to judge by all the bunnies and Friday, a deer, running through my apartment complex.
I mean, the green on the mountains and hills is lovely, but Canada could use it a lot more.
I also decided this weekend that after 11+ years in this type of job, I am done. I'm giving myself 6 weeks to wrap some other expenses up then I'm giving my notice whether or not I've got something else. It's a little rash but I've got feelers out and would happily do random contract jobs for a while rather than any more of this. As soon as I made that decision it was like a massive weight lifted. Burnout is real, kids.
posted by emjaybee at 8:44 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
I mean, the green on the mountains and hills is lovely, but Canada could use it a lot more.
I also decided this weekend that after 11+ years in this type of job, I am done. I'm giving myself 6 weeks to wrap some other expenses up then I'm giving my notice whether or not I've got something else. It's a little rash but I've got feelers out and would happily do random contract jobs for a while rather than any more of this. As soon as I made that decision it was like a massive weight lifted. Burnout is real, kids.
posted by emjaybee at 8:44 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
I volunteered for the Texas Water Safari this weekend, and am now back at work watching on the internet. (It's a long race; there's a handful of finishers now, and it ends mid-day Wednesday.). It is an interesting operation - and I am glad to be back in the air conditioning.
posted by mersen at 8:45 AM on June 12, 2023
posted by mersen at 8:45 AM on June 12, 2023
I am taking today off from work and slept in.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:51 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:51 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'm sitting here wasting time on anything other than Reddit because my car is in the shop after its starter motor conked Saturday in the middle of a huge parking lot and I had to wait 3.5 hours in really minimal shade on a hot southern day for the tow truck, and I'm waiting for the dealership to call me back about when I can go pick it up.
Also, I'm waiting for AT&T's billing investigation department to call me back: three years ago, my house burned down and my router was destroyed. I called them then and they waived the cost, but some kind of clerical error led to them sending bills to the burned house, then sending that to a collection agency, who I told was a mistake. Fast forward to last month, when I went to apply for a home loan, and there's 2.5 years of red flags on my credit rating from this goddamned collection agency. This is something like Hour Eight of being on the phone with AT&T trying to get them to contact the collection agency and tell them to erase all those marks. It's infuriating, but will literally save me $17k on the cost of the mortgage.
And The Peripheral was indeed wonderful.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 9:07 AM on June 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Also, I'm waiting for AT&T's billing investigation department to call me back: three years ago, my house burned down and my router was destroyed. I called them then and they waived the cost, but some kind of clerical error led to them sending bills to the burned house, then sending that to a collection agency, who I told was a mistake. Fast forward to last month, when I went to apply for a home loan, and there's 2.5 years of red flags on my credit rating from this goddamned collection agency. This is something like Hour Eight of being on the phone with AT&T trying to get them to contact the collection agency and tell them to erase all those marks. It's infuriating, but will literally save me $17k on the cost of the mortgage.
And The Peripheral was indeed wonderful.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 9:07 AM on June 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Tore out a ceiling in my house, found Bad Things. Got an energy audit through my gas company, found More Bad Things. Found a puddle in my basement from all that Colorado rain, indicating that the Lurking Bad Thing isn't Lurking anymore, with an engineer scheduled to look at the foundation tomorrow.
While I far prefer incremental improvements, it's really looking like tearing the entire house down to the studs and starting over is the best option. I'm finding it hard to commit to a year+ of updates, even though it will pay for itself in the end.
At least the garden is lovely this year, and the new path is coming along nicely between downpours.
posted by SunSnork at 9:09 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
While I far prefer incremental improvements, it's really looking like tearing the entire house down to the studs and starting over is the best option. I'm finding it hard to commit to a year+ of updates, even though it will pay for itself in the end.
At least the garden is lovely this year, and the new path is coming along nicely between downpours.
posted by SunSnork at 9:09 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm sitting here wasting time on anything other than Reddit
Hah! You and me both. This Reddit detox might be kind of a good thing. And it also looks like Cloudflare is having trouble too so a lot of other websites are up and down, including the Orange site.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:13 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hah! You and me both. This Reddit detox might be kind of a good thing. And it also looks like Cloudflare is having trouble too so a lot of other websites are up and down, including the Orange site.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:13 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The original Rocky isn't very good. You have a dumb street thug and then all of a sudden the heavyweight champ of the world picks him out of a catalog to fight. This is not a very good premise for a movie.
You think that but it was actually a normal thing to have champs fight a couple of patsies before a serious challenger so they could bank some money before risking their belt. There have been several famous unexpected loses.
What I love about watching old movies, even the bad ones, is seeing how the directing and production has changed. The character building, what makes the cut and what doesn't and so on. The pacing on old movies is so different. The use of facial expression is also way different.
posted by srboisvert at 9:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
You think that but it was actually a normal thing to have champs fight a couple of patsies before a serious challenger so they could bank some money before risking their belt. There have been several famous unexpected loses.
What I love about watching old movies, even the bad ones, is seeing how the directing and production has changed. The character building, what makes the cut and what doesn't and so on. The pacing on old movies is so different. The use of facial expression is also way different.
posted by srboisvert at 9:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I really love old late 60s early 70s movies and how they use natural sound instead of a constant underflow of music. Yeah, the sound is probably foley, but it's letting the viewer exist in the movie world, and not telling them they're watching a movie with an underscore.
posted by hippybear at 9:30 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:30 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
It's gonna be really interesting when I hit the 80s and start re-watching things I saw in theaters back in the day....some bits of things have not aged well.
The pacing on old movies is so different
This this THIS. We queued up a bunch of 80s movies for the kids during COVID and we struck out on nearly everything. The ones that we thought we hilarious as kids were either too slow to catch their attention or peppered with language and nudity that we just had to avoid.
And when we did find something a little more innocent (e.g. Footloose) it took forrrrr-ev-errrrr to get to the good parts of the film. Our memories have totally glossed over how awful filmmaking was back then. Or are we just spoiled brats now and expect full sensory overload for two hours straight?
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
The pacing on old movies is so different
This this THIS. We queued up a bunch of 80s movies for the kids during COVID and we struck out on nearly everything. The ones that we thought we hilarious as kids were either too slow to catch their attention or peppered with language and nudity that we just had to avoid.
And when we did find something a little more innocent (e.g. Footloose) it took forrrrr-ev-errrrr to get to the good parts of the film. Our memories have totally glossed over how awful filmmaking was back then. Or are we just spoiled brats now and expect full sensory overload for two hours straight?
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Horkus, will you do a MeFi Projects post about your truck?
Alas, I am firmly in the content consumer rather than the content producer category, despite any aspirations I may have held.
I might do some pictures of the automated shutters, since that is a unique feature of my own design, but no promises.
In lieu of that, here is Chuck Cassidy's youtube channel. I'm doing the subfloor, framing and spray foam pretty much exactly as he outlines, except in a box truck instead of a schoolbus.
posted by Horkus at 9:56 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Alas, I am firmly in the content consumer rather than the content producer category, despite any aspirations I may have held.
I might do some pictures of the automated shutters, since that is a unique feature of my own design, but no promises.
In lieu of that, here is Chuck Cassidy's youtube channel. I'm doing the subfloor, framing and spray foam pretty much exactly as he outlines, except in a box truck instead of a schoolbus.
posted by Horkus at 9:56 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Rocky Mountain employers in Alberta see major boost in temporary foreign worker approvals
Ottawa has eased limits across country, especially in food services, accommodation
This blows my elderly mind.
How have we arrived at a point where it ISN'T normal for a high-school- or uni-undergraduate-age kid to work at least part of the summer, and we now need to bring in literally indentured temporary foreign workers to fill those seasonal jobs?
Yes, because they want to severely abuse those foreign workers like they're the UAE building soccer stadiums. You probably don't want your kid anywhere near those kinds of jobs.
posted by srboisvert at 9:59 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Ottawa has eased limits across country, especially in food services, accommodation
This blows my elderly mind.
How have we arrived at a point where it ISN'T normal for a high-school- or uni-undergraduate-age kid to work at least part of the summer, and we now need to bring in literally indentured temporary foreign workers to fill those seasonal jobs?
Yes, because they want to severely abuse those foreign workers like they're the UAE building soccer stadiums. You probably don't want your kid anywhere near those kinds of jobs.
posted by srboisvert at 9:59 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
It's snapping turtle nesting season in Southern Ontario, so be prepared to meet your local dinosaurs when you're out and about.
It's absolutely chucking it down with rain in Toronto, which means I need to go for a walk in it ASAP.
posted by scruss at 10:03 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's absolutely chucking it down with rain in Toronto, which means I need to go for a walk in it ASAP.
posted by scruss at 10:03 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
We usually don't watch TV during the day at home because we use a projector and our living room is fairly bright. But yesterday there was just nothing else I wanted to do, so we threw some blankets over the windows and just streamed PBS shows all afternoon and it was absolutely perfection. If my best friends weren't coming to visit this coming weekend, it would likely be the highlight of my week.
posted by obfuscation at 10:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 10:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
You probably don't want your kid anywhere near those kinds of jobs.
You say that, but even as recently as 20 years ago, an after-school or summer gig at McDonalds was aspirational. They weren't that easy to get, and it looked good on a resume. My niece worked summers and after highschool for McD's. She went on to complete an MBA and is now a VP in a mid-sized firm.
That summer away job, at a lodge or a resort town (or tree-planting for the hard-core)... those were the stuff of personal legends - shared hardship, new friendships, adventures, epic parties, personal firsts, and maybe some money to help pay for school... is that all gone now?
Oh well.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
You say that, but even as recently as 20 years ago, an after-school or summer gig at McDonalds was aspirational. They weren't that easy to get, and it looked good on a resume. My niece worked summers and after highschool for McD's. She went on to complete an MBA and is now a VP in a mid-sized firm.
That summer away job, at a lodge or a resort town (or tree-planting for the hard-core)... those were the stuff of personal legends - shared hardship, new friendships, adventures, epic parties, personal firsts, and maybe some money to help pay for school... is that all gone now?
Oh well.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:23 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
The Randomlet (age 10, out of school for almost three weeks) has finally settled on their summer project: build a gaming PC that can handle Forza Horizon 5. This past week, I helped them put together a parts list, and it came enough under their budget (they have had $560 in savings) that they could splurge for a better case and fans with programmable cool-looking RGD lights.
Parts should finish arriving (if we believe shipper notifications) this weekend. I'll be guiding them, but most of the work will be theirs. They want the flex of returning in the fall and saying, "Well, all I did over the summer was build a computer."
They are excite.
posted by Quasirandom at 10:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Parts should finish arriving (if we believe shipper notifications) this weekend. I'll be guiding them, but most of the work will be theirs. They want the flex of returning in the fall and saying, "Well, all I did over the summer was build a computer."
They are excite.
posted by Quasirandom at 10:31 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm excited to be back at the circus school after a long hiatus for a knee replacement. I intend to spend my summer upside-down!
posted by pangolin party at 10:36 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 10:36 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
The original Rocky isn't very good. You have a dumb street thug and then all of a sudden the heavyweight champ of the world picks him out of a catalog to fight. This is not a very good premise for a movie.
Ironically, this is based on a true story. A boxer named Chuck Wepner was kind of a low-level boxer, getting a couple of state championships here and there, but then suddenly got tapped to go into the ring with Muhammed Ali in 1975. Everyone expected he was going to go down pretty fast but he lasted nearly the entire match, and even knocked Ali down at one point. Stallone saw the match on TV and started writing the script for Rocky shortly thereafter.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Ironically, this is based on a true story. A boxer named Chuck Wepner was kind of a low-level boxer, getting a couple of state championships here and there, but then suddenly got tapped to go into the ring with Muhammed Ali in 1975. Everyone expected he was going to go down pretty fast but he lasted nearly the entire match, and even knocked Ali down at one point. Stallone saw the match on TV and started writing the script for Rocky shortly thereafter.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on June 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
You probably don't want your kid anywhere near those kinds of jobs.
you're not wrong, but mistreatment of any worker is your problem and my problem. I assume to speak for us both: we are not owners, we are workers
the voter apathy in Alberta is another problem coming home to roost.. for the first time in my experience, I'm seeing cases where large men are showing up in public forums to intimidate candidates and their supporters. You let things slide, and the shit definitely comes for you eventually
posted by elkevelvet at 10:54 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
you're not wrong, but mistreatment of any worker is your problem and my problem. I assume to speak for us both: we are not owners, we are workers
the voter apathy in Alberta is another problem coming home to roost.. for the first time in my experience, I'm seeing cases where large men are showing up in public forums to intimidate candidates and their supporters. You let things slide, and the shit definitely comes for you eventually
posted by elkevelvet at 10:54 AM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
The pacing on old movies is so different
This this THIS. We queued up a bunch of 80s movies for the kids during COVID and we struck out on nearly everything.
Indeed. Ricochet Offspring, born in the mid-nineties, has politely inquired about a number of twentieth-century films over the years and upon seeing them has largely deemed them glacially paced: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard among them.
To my surprise, she seemed to genuinely dig The Terminator and its sequel. In the first, I did point out that the ball o’ lightning effect for time travel with electricity arcing everywhere was probably the second-priciest bit of special effects after the stop-motion terminator itself, and certainly the most advanced (the stop motion stuff was Ray Harryhausen technology, largely unchanged for decades). She mentioned she’d learned to do that in her school’s computer class at age ten. Le sigh.
—
As scruss points out above, southern Ontario is getting a lot of rain today, scrubbing the air nicely. Last week I was up before sunrise and one dawn I watched a tangerine disk climbing into an orange sky. I thought, “God really has to change his printer cartridges.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:59 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
This this THIS. We queued up a bunch of 80s movies for the kids during COVID and we struck out on nearly everything.
Indeed. Ricochet Offspring, born in the mid-nineties, has politely inquired about a number of twentieth-century films over the years and upon seeing them has largely deemed them glacially paced: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard among them.
To my surprise, she seemed to genuinely dig The Terminator and its sequel. In the first, I did point out that the ball o’ lightning effect for time travel with electricity arcing everywhere was probably the second-priciest bit of special effects after the stop-motion terminator itself, and certainly the most advanced (the stop motion stuff was Ray Harryhausen technology, largely unchanged for decades). She mentioned she’d learned to do that in her school’s computer class at age ten. Le sigh.
—
As scruss points out above, southern Ontario is getting a lot of rain today, scrubbing the air nicely. Last week I was up before sunrise and one dawn I watched a tangerine disk climbing into an orange sky. I thought, “God really has to change his printer cartridges.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:59 AM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
She mentioned she’d learned to do that in her school’s computer class at age ten. Le sigh.
Pretty sure that was done with practical effects somehow in camera for the first Terminator movie. Could be wrong, but that movie would be pretty early for even that level of CGI.
posted by hippybear at 11:01 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Pretty sure that was done with practical effects somehow in camera for the first Terminator movie. Could be wrong, but that movie would be pretty early for even that level of CGI.
posted by hippybear at 11:01 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
richochet biscuit - your kid may get a kick out of the Corridor Crew channel on Youtube. It's run by the staff of a VFX studio in Los Angeles, and a lot of their videos are them showing each other clips from movies and discussing how the VFX was done. And it's not just computer graphics either - their most recent video discussed how a fancy shot from a 1940s film may have been pulled off.
The VFX is the bulk of their content, but occasionally they also have similar videos from animators and stunt performers. I've learned an ENORMOUS amount from them.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:41 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The VFX is the bulk of their content, but occasionally they also have similar videos from animators and stunt performers. I've learned an ENORMOUS amount from them.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:41 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Now that the officially brutal summer temperatures have arrived in Austin, I've officially given up on any hope of long-distance cycling until ... October? I've gone back to my running habit instead, which I had to quit upon turning 40 when my lower back disintegrated into dust and pain. Many years of stability and strength conditioning have allowed me to run recreationally again, but it's fucking hard being so laser-focused on my gait and breathing and posture. I can still do the work, but compared to the soul-nourishing freedom of cycling, it's a goddamn slog. And now I have to double down on my daily flexibility/stabilizing work to avoid a repeat of what I went through six years ago. (That lower back thread from two days ago? Read it, learn it, do it.)
In better news, last week I taped a pilot for a new show that I've been prepping for six-plus months, and it went beautifully. My two hosts have a great rapport and everyone went home smiling. I get to spend the next few weeks in the audio sandbox to see how it takes shape. This is the fun part of my job.
posted by mykescipark at 11:41 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
In better news, last week I taped a pilot for a new show that I've been prepping for six-plus months, and it went beautifully. My two hosts have a great rapport and everyone went home smiling. I get to spend the next few weeks in the audio sandbox to see how it takes shape. This is the fun part of my job.
posted by mykescipark at 11:41 AM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Every time I sign on to the Washington Post site, they seem to be very concerned about my gutters and the cost of repairing/replacing them.
I can't decide whether to be annoyed at the repeated advertising, or relieved that in this day and age of the deep state, they don't realize I don't have gutters.
posted by MtDewd at 11:51 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I can't decide whether to be annoyed at the repeated advertising, or relieved that in this day and age of the deep state, they don't realize I don't have gutters.
posted by MtDewd at 11:51 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Gutter ads are an indicator that the WaPo advertisers think you are an Old Person who doesn't want to climb up on the roof.
I couldn't find my favorite essay about corruption in boxing but this one is ok.
So on Saturday morning I hadn't slept well and took a CBD gummy from the local Utah health store to stave off a headache while going to the farmer's market with family. About ninety minutes later I was exhausted and having trouble walking. I rode home with my wife and daughter and fell asleep for hours. I guess the gummy had Delta-9 (8?) , some variant of THC that is legal in Utah due to a loophole. I wasn't euphoric or anything, just kind of detached and slightly anxious because I had forgotten about the delta-9 in the gummy, which we usually use for sleep when camping or stressed. I prefer the effects of straight up CBD oil. So that wasted much of the day.
posted by mecran01 at 12:08 PM on June 12, 2023
I couldn't find my favorite essay about corruption in boxing but this one is ok.
So on Saturday morning I hadn't slept well and took a CBD gummy from the local Utah health store to stave off a headache while going to the farmer's market with family. About ninety minutes later I was exhausted and having trouble walking. I rode home with my wife and daughter and fell asleep for hours. I guess the gummy had Delta-9 (8?) , some variant of THC that is legal in Utah due to a loophole. I wasn't euphoric or anything, just kind of detached and slightly anxious because I had forgotten about the delta-9 in the gummy, which we usually use for sleep when camping or stressed. I prefer the effects of straight up CBD oil. So that wasted much of the day.
posted by mecran01 at 12:08 PM on June 12, 2023
...use natural sound instead of a constant underflow of music.
My wife recently learned of the existence of the 1980s TV show "Tales of the Gold Monkey", so we have been binging it (I watched it as a kid), and the soundtrack is one very noticeable factor: even though this was a high-budget TV show, nearly the only music in any episode is when the theme song is re-played to show the lead characters are winning, like during their escape when the airplane is lifting off or maybe over a bar fight. The rest of the show -- including leadins and leadouts to commercials -- are completely silent aside from diegetic sounds, which is not what you'd expect from an adventure story these days.
(If you haven't seen it, it is a combination of goofy not-historically-accurate swashbuckling fun with all the racism of any show which includes "natives"; it also is somewhat unique in there's a level of kid-friendliness in it (there's a super smart dog! there's pirates and treasure and spies!) but it also expressly discusses one lead hero character's alcoholism (sometimes played for jokes but mostly sympathetic to his struggle), and also people very clearly die in every episode, including people on the 'good' side, albeit bloodlessly)
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
My wife recently learned of the existence of the 1980s TV show "Tales of the Gold Monkey", so we have been binging it (I watched it as a kid), and the soundtrack is one very noticeable factor: even though this was a high-budget TV show, nearly the only music in any episode is when the theme song is re-played to show the lead characters are winning, like during their escape when the airplane is lifting off or maybe over a bar fight. The rest of the show -- including leadins and leadouts to commercials -- are completely silent aside from diegetic sounds, which is not what you'd expect from an adventure story these days.
(If you haven't seen it, it is a combination of goofy not-historically-accurate swashbuckling fun with all the racism of any show which includes "natives"; it also is somewhat unique in there's a level of kid-friendliness in it (there's a super smart dog! there's pirates and treasure and spies!) but it also expressly discusses one lead hero character's alcoholism (sometimes played for jokes but mostly sympathetic to his struggle), and also people very clearly die in every episode, including people on the 'good' side, albeit bloodlessly)
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Whether walking around the house naked is considered 'good' or 'evil' probably depends on whether that's the sort of thing you like seeing or not.
Personally, if I ever get superpowers, I'm fighting on the side of naughtiness. Fair warning.
I'd like to rewatch Rocky sometime to see how it stands up. I remember watching it a bit after it came out and being somewhat shocked that the hero of the film worked as a loan shark enforcer (I was thirteen).
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:42 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Personally, if I ever get superpowers, I'm fighting on the side of naughtiness. Fair warning.
I'd like to rewatch Rocky sometime to see how it stands up. I remember watching it a bit after it came out and being somewhat shocked that the hero of the film worked as a loan shark enforcer (I was thirteen).
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:42 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just learned what diegetic means a couple of weeks ago from a Cate Blanchett interview. What a cool word. Does everybody already know it and I've been out of the loop all this time?
posted by mpark at 12:43 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mpark at 12:43 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
My journey asking for health care continues. Today it was navigating the main automated scheduler system for BOTH major health care systems for far more time than any one person should be asked to sit on hold.
Provider 1: The automated system refused to take the specialist I was looking for as verbal input and there was no mechanism to type it in. Since it could not identify the specialist, it put me in a hellish loop of asking me to confirm I wanted an appointment ad infinitum. I have no idea why I tried three times. I finally pulled up the practice closest to my home that takes my insurance and called them direct. Direct to voicemail with a statement that I would receive a call back in 24-48 hours if requesting an appointment. Maybe.
Provider 2: I just sat on hold with no end in sight. I did the same as provider 1: called up the practice closest to my home that takes my insurance. I got a live person who informed that I had dialed an incorrect number. HOWEVER, she actually had two referrals for the speciality I was seeking and gave me those numbers. Referral A was definitely covered. I ended up in automated hell again for a short period of time, but finally hung up after obtaining an appointment for early August and a spot on the "call if someone cancels" list.
I'll leave up to those who also live in the 'burgh to ascertain which system was the most problematic.
I also decided to take the ER doctor's advice and requested a stress test from my NP. That was a pretty easy phone call - the scheduler took my information and sent it to my NP right away. Hoping to get that done in the next few days so my stupid brain shuts up about it.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Provider 1: The automated system refused to take the specialist I was looking for as verbal input and there was no mechanism to type it in. Since it could not identify the specialist, it put me in a hellish loop of asking me to confirm I wanted an appointment ad infinitum. I have no idea why I tried three times. I finally pulled up the practice closest to my home that takes my insurance and called them direct. Direct to voicemail with a statement that I would receive a call back in 24-48 hours if requesting an appointment. Maybe.
Provider 2: I just sat on hold with no end in sight. I did the same as provider 1: called up the practice closest to my home that takes my insurance. I got a live person who informed that I had dialed an incorrect number. HOWEVER, she actually had two referrals for the speciality I was seeking and gave me those numbers. Referral A was definitely covered. I ended up in automated hell again for a short period of time, but finally hung up after obtaining an appointment for early August and a spot on the "call if someone cancels" list.
I'll leave up to those who also live in the 'burgh to ascertain which system was the most problematic.
I also decided to take the ER doctor's advice and requested a stress test from my NP. That was a pretty easy phone call - the scheduler took my information and sent it to my NP right away. Hoping to get that done in the next few days so my stupid brain shuts up about it.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 1:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
It started out with me wanting to turn on our sprinkler system for the summer.
It's ended up with me having gone to the local hardware store maybe 10 times, watching maybe 2 hours of youtube videos, at 4-6 minutes each so it was a lot, making three calls to the sprinkler manufacturer to get Expert Help, fighting against a series of shutoff valves for water I'd ever even looked at before, waiting after multiple openings of water-bearing holes for things to dry out, digging out about a cubic foot of gravel and dirt from around the valves, and feeling like I need to get an education certification in How Sprinkler Valves Work...
I have given up. The one valve problem has, at the suggestion of the sprinkler manufacturer, turned into a two valve problem. Taking apart another valve and moving parts back and forth between the two units is a completely logical way to trace down a bad part, except I'm getting random results that have gone above my pay grade to resolve. We have a sprinkler company coming in on Thursday and I'm hoping they can make the damn thing work.
Been here 20 years, this is the first time we've had actual system problems with this. Maybe a broken pipe under the lawn before or replacing a sprinkler head, but this... man. The feeling of defeat is palpable.
posted by hippybear at 1:25 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
It's ended up with me having gone to the local hardware store maybe 10 times, watching maybe 2 hours of youtube videos, at 4-6 minutes each so it was a lot, making three calls to the sprinkler manufacturer to get Expert Help, fighting against a series of shutoff valves for water I'd ever even looked at before, waiting after multiple openings of water-bearing holes for things to dry out, digging out about a cubic foot of gravel and dirt from around the valves, and feeling like I need to get an education certification in How Sprinkler Valves Work...
I have given up. The one valve problem has, at the suggestion of the sprinkler manufacturer, turned into a two valve problem. Taking apart another valve and moving parts back and forth between the two units is a completely logical way to trace down a bad part, except I'm getting random results that have gone above my pay grade to resolve. We have a sprinkler company coming in on Thursday and I'm hoping they can make the damn thing work.
Been here 20 years, this is the first time we've had actual system problems with this. Maybe a broken pipe under the lawn before or replacing a sprinkler head, but this... man. The feeling of defeat is palpable.
posted by hippybear at 1:25 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Here's another clip of Alice doing School's Out, this time on a 1972 edition of the iconic British TV show Top of the Pops. I was 14 when I watched this clip's original transmission, about the same age as that utterly unfazed audience girl Alice dances with near the end. Who was she? What's she doing now? Does she still recall the day they taped it and smile at the memory? I hope so.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:51 PM on June 12, 2023
posted by Paul Slade at 1:51 PM on June 12, 2023
Here's another clip of some dads doing School's Out, (2023) greeting their kids as they get off the bus on their last day.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:58 PM on June 12, 2023
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:58 PM on June 12, 2023
You probably don't want your kid anywhere near those kinds of jobs.
I want everybody’s kid in those kinds of jobs so they can’t get that bad.
posted by clew at 2:17 PM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I want everybody’s kid in those kinds of jobs so they can’t get that bad.
posted by clew at 2:17 PM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
>and upon seeing them has largely deemed them glacially paced: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard among them.
When "Raiders" first opened in theaters, I remember thinking: "This is a sea change in pacing for movies. From now on, it'll be non-stop, edge-of-your-seat action. Not sure if I can keep up."
posted by Gordion Knott at 3:20 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
When "Raiders" first opened in theaters, I remember thinking: "This is a sea change in pacing for movies. From now on, it'll be non-stop, edge-of-your-seat action. Not sure if I can keep up."
posted by Gordion Knott at 3:20 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Gutter ads are an indicator that the WaPo advertisers think you are an Old Person who doesn't want to climb up on the roof.
Just two months ago my father, age 95, an actual WWII veteran (served in the Pacific Fleet beginning Feb. '44) called me. "Your mom [b. 1936] is off at... I don't know, some lady thing, so I've got the chance to get up there on a ladder and take care of the gutters without her making a fuss about it." I'm like I'm about to make a fuss about it, and then he hangs up. He lives an hour away. He calls back an hour later: "J*ps didn't get me, the leaves didn't, either." Yes, he said "J*ps".
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:29 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Just two months ago my father, age 95, an actual WWII veteran (served in the Pacific Fleet beginning Feb. '44) called me. "Your mom [b. 1936] is off at... I don't know, some lady thing, so I've got the chance to get up there on a ladder and take care of the gutters without her making a fuss about it." I'm like I'm about to make a fuss about it, and then he hangs up. He lives an hour away. He calls back an hour later: "J*ps didn't get me, the leaves didn't, either." Yes, he said "J*ps".
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 3:29 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I like the older pacing and that's one reason I find it hard to get into new movies. Like how Columbo could take half an hour just setting up the scenario and introducing that episode's characters before Columbo even shows up. Everything is too quick these days and they just want to throw you in right from the start and not slow down until the end. That's not what I grew up with and it's hard to adjust to.
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:34 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:34 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Every so often I'll re-watch some of the old Marx Bros movies, and it always surprises me how much silence there is in some scenes - no background music, incidental noises, or anything in between the character's spoken lines. The mirror scene is an astounding example - nearly 3 minutes of utter silence.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:38 PM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:38 PM on June 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
After gutter cleaning ads are the ads for post-prostate-removal sex toys. The juxtaposition is startling.
posted by clew at 3:42 PM on June 12, 2023
posted by clew at 3:42 PM on June 12, 2023
The juxtaposition is startling.
And yet somehow the one does follow the other logically.
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
And yet somehow the one does follow the other logically.
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I originally misinterpreted one of the squishier sex toys as a semiautonomous gutter cleaner, and who knows? Maybe they’ll pivot!
posted by clew at 3:59 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 3:59 PM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hey, it'll ream one gutter or another....
posted by hippybear at 4:22 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:22 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
The primary school 200 meters up the road from me has decided to replace ringing the school bell with playing a 30 second short of a popular song. Which is why, for the last couple of months, I have to dive (screaming, no less) for headphones at 9am, 11:30am, and 2:30pm. We had two weeks of Geronimo by Shepperd, and today marks the start of week 3 of Count on Me by Bruno Mars.
The fact that I can hear this indoors, with all the windows shut, makes me wonder...how loud is it at the school?????? This morning I could just make out the music whilst watching a video. It's all starting to make my eye twitch but I don't feel I can really put in an official complaint - what sort of monster shuts down music at a primary school?
I am tempted to buy bagpipes though...
posted by ninazer0 at 4:58 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
The fact that I can hear this indoors, with all the windows shut, makes me wonder...how loud is it at the school?????? This morning I could just make out the music whilst watching a video. It's all starting to make my eye twitch but I don't feel I can really put in an official complaint - what sort of monster shuts down music at a primary school?
I am tempted to buy bagpipes though...
posted by ninazer0 at 4:58 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I commented recently on the racial divide in Portland, Oregon and this happened today:
I had a GoPuff delivery of some beer and the delivery person was a young Black woman with long dreads. I asked her what it was like being Black in Portland. This a paraphrase of what she said: “It’s lonely here. I look around and I don’t see anyone like me, it’s hard.” She twirled her braids and looked sideways while answering then left quickly.
posted by bendy at 5:09 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I had a GoPuff delivery of some beer and the delivery person was a young Black woman with long dreads. I asked her what it was like being Black in Portland. This a paraphrase of what she said: “It’s lonely here. I look around and I don’t see anyone like me, it’s hard.” She twirled her braids and looked sideways while answering then left quickly.
posted by bendy at 5:09 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
→
At least it's not a music siren
(which I would love, btw)
posted by scruss at 6:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
how loud is it at the school??????
At least it's not a music siren
(which I would love, btw)
posted by scruss at 6:12 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
When I was a 19 or 20 year old counselor at one particular summer camp they used to wake us up with a very scratchy record of the Beatle's Yellow Submarine over the piercingly loud PA system, clumsy needle drop and all.
Fortunately I was able to set an alarm on my digital watch (which I still think was a Pretty Neat Idea) for 5 minutes ahead of time, giving me a chance to use my pillow to protect myself from the worst screeching of that ignominious wake-up call.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:36 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Fortunately I was able to set an alarm on my digital watch (which I still think was a Pretty Neat Idea) for 5 minutes ahead of time, giving me a chance to use my pillow to protect myself from the worst screeching of that ignominious wake-up call.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:36 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
OMG that music siren is amazing! I'm currently trying to figure out how I (a fat, out of shape, middle aged woman) can ninja my way into the school and swap the music out with an appropriate section of Pink Floyd's The Wall.
We don't need no education......
posted by ninazer0 at 7:05 PM on June 12, 2023
We don't need no education......
posted by ninazer0 at 7:05 PM on June 12, 2023
I started a list last week of Things That Won’t Matter When Society Collapses, and “Myers-Briggs trainers’ opinions” was the first add.
posted by vitabellosi at 7:10 PM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by vitabellosi at 7:10 PM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm getting a lot of writing done (finished drafting a book chapter, now working again on a short article, then back to the book). Then off next week to do my final COVID-delayed archival trip for the book in question, this time to sit in the NYPL (reading letters) and Columbia University's rare books collection (reading a book that nobody has bothered to digitize and that I didn't realize I needed to read while I was in the UK, arrrgh).
Meanwhile, I have decided that the ghosts of the brothers who built my house are trying to reconstruct their Erie Canal shipping business inside it, because that's the most entertaining way of explaining why water keeps appearing where it ought not to be (this time, on the laundry room floor...and the basement beneath it).
posted by thomas j wise at 7:16 PM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Meanwhile, I have decided that the ghosts of the brothers who built my house are trying to reconstruct their Erie Canal shipping business inside it, because that's the most entertaining way of explaining why water keeps appearing where it ought not to be (this time, on the laundry room floor...and the basement beneath it).
posted by thomas j wise at 7:16 PM on June 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
one particular summer camp they used to wake us up
Oh, at the music camp I went to for my summers, they would wake us up with a group of people, usually counselors or teachers, coming into the dorm and singing, to the tune of Revile
It's time to get up
It's time to get up
It's time to get up this mooor-nig
It's time to get up
It's time to get up
It's time to get up today.
Sometimes with barbershop harmonies. Depended on who was on duty that morning.
posted by hippybear at 7:29 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oh, at the music camp I went to for my summers, they would wake us up with a group of people, usually counselors or teachers, coming into the dorm and singing, to the tune of Revile
It's time to get up
It's time to get up
It's time to get up this mooor-nig
It's time to get up
It's time to get up
It's time to get up today.
Sometimes with barbershop harmonies. Depended on who was on duty that morning.
posted by hippybear at 7:29 PM on June 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I attended a catholic summer camp in north carolina for 3 years as a tween. Every am and pm they played Perry Como,s Ave Maria over the pa. I really loathe that song.
posted by supermedusa at 7:45 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 7:45 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've been fiddling with Calibre and my Fire 10 tablet all day after discovering some of my books were not sorting correctly in Moon+ Reader. So I deleted the books and redid the file naming template and moved my books back onto the SD card in chunks in between refreshing the Reddit post and looking through Beehaw.
15k books in 500 book chunks takes a while. My Kindle Paperwhite only holds like 6 GB total, so it's just for my Libby (library books) & KU (Kindle Unlimited) books and the ones I purchased on sale or for free. But the Fire has a 512 GB SD card in it, and so I've put my entire Calibre library on it, fanfics, public domain books, my paid for books, saved PDFs, Humble Bundle books, etc. As it also runs Android, and after I added Google services to it, I can run my Kobo app and read my Kobo+ subscription books, and use Moon+ for my owned books.
posted by tlwright at 7:53 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
15k books in 500 book chunks takes a while. My Kindle Paperwhite only holds like 6 GB total, so it's just for my Libby (library books) & KU (Kindle Unlimited) books and the ones I purchased on sale or for free. But the Fire has a 512 GB SD card in it, and so I've put my entire Calibre library on it, fanfics, public domain books, my paid for books, saved PDFs, Humble Bundle books, etc. As it also runs Android, and after I added Google services to it, I can run my Kobo app and read my Kobo+ subscription books, and use Moon+ for my owned books.
posted by tlwright at 7:53 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
SOMEONE TALK ME OFF A LEDGE PLEASE
There's been some kind of weird lease screwup with our management company. Our lease expires at the end of June; we got a lease renewal notice in FEBRUARY, signed it all and sent it back with a check for the additional deposit. That check was cashed in April, and shortly thereafter I got a big fat envelope from the management company; "oh, that must be the cosigned lease," I thought, and just set it in my office unopened.
But then TODAY we got a notice that "if you don't renew your lease we will start eviction proceedings". Attached was a copy of a one-page form, with a space for my roommate and I to sign. We signed it, and then I remembered the "cosigned lease" - and opened the package to find a DIFFERENT set of paperwork, also requiring our signature. Most of it is the same additional riders about lead paint and such, but there was a cover page that quoted a DIFFERENT, and SLIGHTLY HIGHER, rate for the lease renewal.
My roommate pointed out that they'd already cashed the first check, and we never got any cover letter about "the old lease was in error, please do this instead". We both are willing to do the new rate, we just want to make sure what the fuck is going on.
The "talk me off the ledge" bit - I'm calling them tomorrow to find out what the fuck, and if they say "oops, yeah, we goofed with that first lease, this is the real one" then fine, we'll sign and get it right back to them. ....That's enough time, yeah?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:15 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's been some kind of weird lease screwup with our management company. Our lease expires at the end of June; we got a lease renewal notice in FEBRUARY, signed it all and sent it back with a check for the additional deposit. That check was cashed in April, and shortly thereafter I got a big fat envelope from the management company; "oh, that must be the cosigned lease," I thought, and just set it in my office unopened.
But then TODAY we got a notice that "if you don't renew your lease we will start eviction proceedings". Attached was a copy of a one-page form, with a space for my roommate and I to sign. We signed it, and then I remembered the "cosigned lease" - and opened the package to find a DIFFERENT set of paperwork, also requiring our signature. Most of it is the same additional riders about lead paint and such, but there was a cover page that quoted a DIFFERENT, and SLIGHTLY HIGHER, rate for the lease renewal.
My roommate pointed out that they'd already cashed the first check, and we never got any cover letter about "the old lease was in error, please do this instead". We both are willing to do the new rate, we just want to make sure what the fuck is going on.
The "talk me off the ledge" bit - I'm calling them tomorrow to find out what the fuck, and if they say "oops, yeah, we goofed with that first lease, this is the real one" then fine, we'll sign and get it right back to them. ....That's enough time, yeah?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:15 PM on June 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
The "talk me off the ledge" bit
Your landlord wants money and paperwork; if you're working with them, they've got no reason to start eviction proceedings;
Even if they do start the eviction process, it takes quite a while to happen, the sheriff doesn't show up at your door the next day;
And, even if everything goes badly up until that time, there's (your jurisdiction may vary) an eviction hearing with some official, whose job is to decide whether an eviction is needed, and you can readily show up there, show you signed a lease and wrote the landlord a check and say "landlord is changing things up and we need time to resolve this" and they will likely put the eviction process on hold.
But, I am fairly sure talking to the landlord will stop anything worse from happening, unless they're very inept or very assholes. But, that too, you should be able to determine while working with them to get this resolved.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:23 AM on June 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Your landlord wants money and paperwork; if you're working with them, they've got no reason to start eviction proceedings;
Even if they do start the eviction process, it takes quite a while to happen, the sheriff doesn't show up at your door the next day;
And, even if everything goes badly up until that time, there's (your jurisdiction may vary) an eviction hearing with some official, whose job is to decide whether an eviction is needed, and you can readily show up there, show you signed a lease and wrote the landlord a check and say "landlord is changing things up and we need time to resolve this" and they will likely put the eviction process on hold.
But, I am fairly sure talking to the landlord will stop anything worse from happening, unless they're very inept or very assholes. But, that too, you should be able to determine while working with them to get this resolved.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:23 AM on June 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
I think I'm okay! The person who sent me the second letter wasn't in, so I spoke with the person who sent me the first lease - and she said that I maybe was not even supposed to get that second lease in the first place (the person who sent the second letter deals more with the public-assistance type of accounts, so she's not sure what's going on). I threw all the paperwork at her and she's looking into it.
"All the paperwork", also, includes a) a copy of the cancelled check for the additional security deposit, b) a copy of the cover letter for the first lease with this first person's signature on it, and c) a copy of the bank statement for the escrow account showing that they not only received the security deposit, they deposited it into mine and my roommate's escrow accounts for our leases.
I was pretty sure this was more of a bureaucracy thing, and I've found that the key to resolving bureaucratic fuckups is to find the right person to talk to. And I think I did. She admitted that we should have gotten a co-signed copy of that lease by now, and she's going to look into what happened there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:45 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
"All the paperwork", also, includes a) a copy of the cancelled check for the additional security deposit, b) a copy of the cover letter for the first lease with this first person's signature on it, and c) a copy of the bank statement for the escrow account showing that they not only received the security deposit, they deposited it into mine and my roommate's escrow accounts for our leases.
I was pretty sure this was more of a bureaucracy thing, and I've found that the key to resolving bureaucratic fuckups is to find the right person to talk to. And I think I did. She admitted that we should have gotten a co-signed copy of that lease by now, and she's going to look into what happened there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:45 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
If you want to get all legal about this, you signed a lease that they processed the check for. That's a signed contract and they're now changing terms on an already established legal document. I'm not saying you should make a stink, but I could see that being viable.
posted by hippybear at 6:48 AM on June 13, 2023
posted by hippybear at 6:48 AM on June 13, 2023
Yeah, that will be the red-alert response. But I think I found the person who will be able to confirm "whoa, yeah, our bad, we're really sorry about this, this was our screwup" and work with me instead.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2023
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2023
The fact that I can hear this indoors, with all the windows shut, makes me wonder...how loud is it at the school?????? This morning I could just make out the music whilst watching a video. It's all starting to make my eye twitch but I don't feel I can really put in an official complaint - what sort of monster shuts down music at a primary school?
Make the complaint. It's not the music, it's the volume and they can surely adjust the volume.
posted by srboisvert at 7:08 AM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Make the complaint. It's not the music, it's the volume and they can surely adjust the volume.
posted by srboisvert at 7:08 AM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I started a list last week of Things That Won’t Matter When Society Collapses, and “Myers-Briggs trainers’ opinions” was the first add.
Myers-Briggs will probably still exist after all the apocalypses even if Tumblr becomes a scroll-based papyrus medium passed from town to town by merchants using horse-drawn wagons.
posted by srboisvert at 7:15 AM on June 13, 2023
Myers-Briggs will probably still exist after all the apocalypses even if Tumblr becomes a scroll-based papyrus medium passed from town to town by merchants using horse-drawn wagons.
posted by srboisvert at 7:15 AM on June 13, 2023
Yesterday I had a small medical procedure that required general anaesthesia. My Other Half took the day from work to bring me to and from. This should be an ordinary thing, but in my past lives, it's not. I've been married twice before, and each time when I really needed my husband's help, I was let down. (Example: I was once in a car accident, and my husband came to the hospital. While I lay on a guerney, strapped in to a back board, awaiting x-rays, frightened and disoriented, he kept complaining about the football game he was missing on tv).
I couldn't thank My Other Half enough. I know he doesn't like hospitals, I know they may him uncomfortable. But he's a stand up guy (He was there to the end with his long time girlfriend when she passed from breast cancer - he doesn't run from hard stuff). I don't think he gets just how much his care meant to me.
It sucks that I finally met the right guy while I'm in my 50's and he's in his early 60's, but maybe this is exactly the right time for us.
posted by annieb at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2023 [18 favorites]
I couldn't thank My Other Half enough. I know he doesn't like hospitals, I know they may him uncomfortable. But he's a stand up guy (He was there to the end with his long time girlfriend when she passed from breast cancer - he doesn't run from hard stuff). I don't think he gets just how much his care meant to me.
It sucks that I finally met the right guy while I'm in my 50's and he's in his early 60's, but maybe this is exactly the right time for us.
posted by annieb at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2023 [18 favorites]
Okay, somebody should rewrite the MB assessments for a subsistence society. Store it away with a sparkly top hat and a bike trailer, you got your Party’s Over career sorted.
Combine it with conflict resolution and you might be beneficial.
posted by clew at 8:33 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Combine it with conflict resolution and you might be beneficial.
posted by clew at 8:33 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
My summer job (for the first month or two) is rehab and regaining range of motion in my brand new left knee!
I’m excited because my old left knee was a shadow of its former self, the bones were plateaus, and nearly everything was painful at some point. Also, as a hangover from a crisis I had during chemotherapy, I had a couple of small clots (one behind each knee), which prevented knee replacement surgery. Two years of blood thinners and support socks every day resolved that - I was so ready for this.
The rehab is pretty fuckin painful, but I’m making great progress, so that’s the feedback I need to push through.
posted by dbmcd at 9:18 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
I’m excited because my old left knee was a shadow of its former self, the bones were plateaus, and nearly everything was painful at some point. Also, as a hangover from a crisis I had during chemotherapy, I had a couple of small clots (one behind each knee), which prevented knee replacement surgery. Two years of blood thinners and support socks every day resolved that - I was so ready for this.
The rehab is pretty fuckin painful, but I’m making great progress, so that’s the feedback I need to push through.
posted by dbmcd at 9:18 AM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
clew: Combine [traveling, post-apocalyptic MBTI woo-cart] with conflict resolution and you might be beneficial killed by a mob at the first village.
FTFY.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:43 AM on June 13, 2023
FTFY.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:43 AM on June 13, 2023
I started a list last week of Things That Won’t Matter When Society Collapses, and “Myers-Briggs trainers’ opinions” was the first add.
Can we add the Caliper Assessment to that list? Cause spouse got eliminated from a second round of interviews because of that eff'ing "test". He was disappointed. Based on his description from the initial screening, I'm maintaining the POV that the place is run by Scientologists and he dodged a bullet.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 9:53 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Can we add the Caliper Assessment to that list? Cause spouse got eliminated from a second round of interviews because of that eff'ing "test". He was disappointed. Based on his description from the initial screening, I'm maintaining the POV that the place is run by Scientologists and he dodged a bullet.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 9:53 AM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
C A R N A G E ! Alice the vallhund just killed and ate 5-7 (not weensy) baby somethings, probably rabbits.
When our older girl Tish killed things, she would grab them by the head and snap their necks. Quick. Efficient. Alice, OTOH, grabs them and just sort of grumbles them around in her mouth while they squeak at her and then down they go. I would not pinky-swear that they were dead when they hit her stomach.
I don't know what momma rabbit was thinking laying her eggs in a yard with five dogs. Ojala I don't have to pick up half-digested puked-up bunnies later.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:05 PM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
When our older girl Tish killed things, she would grab them by the head and snap their necks. Quick. Efficient. Alice, OTOH, grabs them and just sort of grumbles them around in her mouth while they squeak at her and then down they go. I would not pinky-swear that they were dead when they hit her stomach.
I don't know what momma rabbit was thinking laying her eggs in a yard with five dogs. Ojala I don't have to pick up half-digested puked-up bunnies later.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:05 PM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
So, um... despite the whole Easter thing, rabbits don't lay eggs.
posted by hippybear at 1:51 PM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:51 PM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
that's what the deep state wants you to think
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:03 PM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:03 PM on June 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
Looks like hippybear is in the pocket of Big Bunny....
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:13 PM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:13 PM on June 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
We are one week from the first day of summer. And I have my heat on here in Cleveland. I had to turn it on to get the house to 65. Maybe it's just the general dampness too. Though having cleaner air is nice.
Today at work made me decide I have to get out of there. I'm the one who gets bitched at for the lunch room and the school age room being messy yesterday when I was nowhere near them. Or get pictures of the mess in the SA room at 6:30 am and then bitched out over it. I'm so over it. I like the flexibility I have but damn, I'm tired of being the scapegoat while everyone else gets off. I've gotten several emails from employers who actually offer (gasp) benefits and (double gasp) paid PTO/vacation.
posted by kathrynm at 5:07 PM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Today at work made me decide I have to get out of there. I'm the one who gets bitched at for the lunch room and the school age room being messy yesterday when I was nowhere near them. Or get pictures of the mess in the SA room at 6:30 am and then bitched out over it. I'm so over it. I like the flexibility I have but damn, I'm tired of being the scapegoat while everyone else gets off. I've gotten several emails from employers who actually offer (gasp) benefits and (double gasp) paid PTO/vacation.
posted by kathrynm at 5:07 PM on June 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Okay, somebody should rewrite the MB assessments for a subsistence society. Store it away with a sparkly top hat and a bike trailer, you got your Party’s Over career sorted.
My assessment said I’d be a good cult leader, so I’m feeling pretty confident going into the collapse.
posted by vitabellosi at 6:11 PM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
My assessment said I’d be a good cult leader, so I’m feeling pretty confident going into the collapse.
posted by vitabellosi at 6:11 PM on June 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
in the pocket of Big Bunny
Bunnies don't have pockets regardless of size. You're thinking kangaroos.
posted by hippybear at 6:45 PM on June 13, 2023 [7 favorites]
Bunnies don't have pockets regardless of size. You're thinking kangaroos.
posted by hippybear at 6:45 PM on June 13, 2023 [7 favorites]
that's what the deep state wants you to think
apologies for stealing your joke, GCUS&FG!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:27 PM on June 13, 2023
apologies for stealing your joke, GCUS&FG!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:27 PM on June 13, 2023
Lease drama concludes: the second, higher lease is the proper one. The first, lower lease was only valid for people with rent stabilized apartments - and I'm not rent stabilized. The landlord deeply regrets the error, but...I gotta pony up. They are noting that this was a clusterfuck and that they need to give me a grace period to get things back, so I don't need to, like, fedex this or anything.
It's not ideal, but it's dealable. I woke up early because of humidity and did some number-crunching on my budget and I'll be okay - I've already been starting to rein in some fast-and-loose spending habits I'd developed over the past year, and doing that will take care of it. (Especially since I did a quick info-only browse of other apartments at that rate and found LITERALLY NOTHING in this area, we'd have to move down to like Coney Island or something.) I'm being paid well enough that I could even afford more, so this is still okay.
My roommate and I had already both agreed that we could pay the higher rent if need be, we were just clarifying whether we needed to. So we've signed everything and I'm second-day fedexing it to them anyway today for the paper trail (and I think I'll be doing the same with all other lease renewals going forward).
But no danger of eviction any more, and that was the main concern.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:05 AM on June 14, 2023 [6 favorites]
It's not ideal, but it's dealable. I woke up early because of humidity and did some number-crunching on my budget and I'll be okay - I've already been starting to rein in some fast-and-loose spending habits I'd developed over the past year, and doing that will take care of it. (Especially since I did a quick info-only browse of other apartments at that rate and found LITERALLY NOTHING in this area, we'd have to move down to like Coney Island or something.) I'm being paid well enough that I could even afford more, so this is still okay.
My roommate and I had already both agreed that we could pay the higher rent if need be, we were just clarifying whether we needed to. So we've signed everything and I'm second-day fedexing it to them anyway today for the paper trail (and I think I'll be doing the same with all other lease renewals going forward).
But no danger of eviction any more, and that was the main concern.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:05 AM on June 14, 2023 [6 favorites]
Gutter ads are an indicator that the WaPo advertisers think you are an Old Person who doesn't want to climb up on the roof.
I am an OP, but I do get up on the roof to shovel snow a few times a winter, and I'm much younger than my father was when he fell off a ladder while putting a roof on my brother's house. (He was fine, btw)
After gutter cleaning ads are the ads for post-prostate-removal sex toys.
Once again, not sure if I'm relieved I don't get these, or envious that I don't. Perhaps I could be getting them but thinking they're gutter ads??
Also- does the algorithm think I'm not interested, or does it know I'm into something else?
At least I'm not getting Depends ads.
posted by MtDewd at 4:52 AM on June 14, 2023
I am an OP, but I do get up on the roof to shovel snow a few times a winter, and I'm much younger than my father was when he fell off a ladder while putting a roof on my brother's house. (He was fine, btw)
After gutter cleaning ads are the ads for post-prostate-removal sex toys.
Once again, not sure if I'm relieved I don't get these, or envious that I don't. Perhaps I could be getting them but thinking they're gutter ads??
Also- does the algorithm think I'm not interested, or does it know I'm into something else?
At least I'm not getting Depends ads.
posted by MtDewd at 4:52 AM on June 14, 2023
Back when I was at university, I was on the mountain climbing team. On outings, it wasn't rare to have to wake up at 4am or such because you had to get somewhere before the fog came up or something.
Our old billy-goat teacher/leader (or whatever senior climber was leading us) wouldn't yell, play loud music or otherwise cajole us. He'd walk around the camp slowly, quietly whistling a simple, four-note tune. Over and over, without stopping, for as long as it took. If you weren't woken up by this thing crawling through your ear canal to rot in your brain, you'd be woken up by the people yelling insults at the whistler.
posted by signal at 5:43 AM on June 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
Our old billy-goat teacher/leader (or whatever senior climber was leading us) wouldn't yell, play loud music or otherwise cajole us. He'd walk around the camp slowly, quietly whistling a simple, four-note tune. Over and over, without stopping, for as long as it took. If you weren't woken up by this thing crawling through your ear canal to rot in your brain, you'd be woken up by the people yelling insults at the whistler.
posted by signal at 5:43 AM on June 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
So, years ago I saw a bit on an episode of House where Dr. House was trying to quit his pain pills, but the pain in his leg was still a serious issue - so in desperation he injured himself some other way, like stabbing himself with a pencil or something. Wilson was discussing that with him and said something about there being a thing the pain center in the brain does; I think it was something like, if you have chronic pain but then you get a big enough new injury, your pain center will turn off your chronic pain temporarily to generate pain from the new injury. That was why House must have stabbed himself, he guessed.
I say that because - the bureaucratic hassle I just went through with a company i was trying to order a standing desk from for work was EXACTLY STUPID ENOUGH to get me over the hangovers of the bureaucratic hassle about my lease. (I actually went to the poor girl who asked for the standing desk and said that "the good news is that we got your desk, and I am formally asking that if you need another one, we try a different place.")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:24 PM on June 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
I say that because - the bureaucratic hassle I just went through with a company i was trying to order a standing desk from for work was EXACTLY STUPID ENOUGH to get me over the hangovers of the bureaucratic hassle about my lease. (I actually went to the poor girl who asked for the standing desk and said that "the good news is that we got your desk, and I am formally asking that if you need another one, we try a different place.")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:24 PM on June 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
You know what I really hate? That my entire value in this world is my service. My helping, fixing, problem solving, and supporting. All things I do not enjoy. All things that on a good day, just exhaust me and on a bad day, I get shamed over for never, ever being perfect enough, for saying things the wrong way, for just being a fucking failure because I was the one who was here to help you. And I'm always here to help you. I hate that typing for money--not even typing anything interesting because journalism is a dying industry and I can't do that no more--is my entire worth in the world. Everything that I love is expendable, especially in recessions, depressions, and pandemics--and if I want to have insurance for when I inevitably get diagnosed with diabetes, MS, rectal cancer, who knows what there is to not look forward to in my future--I have to dedicate my entire life to doing THIS. Not to mention having somewhere to live and a car.
I hate that my ENTIRE DAY TODAY AND TOMORROW is just going to be keying a bunch of boring sentences onto people's records over and over and over and over again. I have nothing else to do all day long but boring lists and boring proofreading after I finish this list, because people literally don't know where they live and can't put down a coherent address, because the supposedly smart people that are our clientele can't figure out where they live. I hate that I have to waste my entire life on nothing but this, because of money and insurance, and my being a service robot is my only worth in this world and nothing else about me matters but MY SERVICE and being the damn Help Fairy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
I hate that my ENTIRE DAY TODAY AND TOMORROW is just going to be keying a bunch of boring sentences onto people's records over and over and over and over again. I have nothing else to do all day long but boring lists and boring proofreading after I finish this list, because people literally don't know where they live and can't put down a coherent address, because the supposedly smart people that are our clientele can't figure out where they live. I hate that I have to waste my entire life on nothing but this, because of money and insurance, and my being a service robot is my only worth in this world and nothing else about me matters but MY SERVICE and being the damn Help Fairy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on June 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
Well, the sprinkler repair job defeated me. The professionals showed up yesterday and were here less than a half hour and it was running perfectly. I'm choosing to believe that all my work and troubleshooting and explaining to them saved an hour of their time at least. At least it's working now.
posted by hippybear at 10:20 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:20 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
....So I'm dwelling on the whole lease and finances situation waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of proportion to reality, especially since where we are now is "the lease will be in the landlord's hands today, earlier than anticipated" and "the new rent will be the price of what the OLD apartment was, and I was making $10K LESS back then too".
I've often joked that "I have more money issues than a subscription to Forbes," but I think this is a sign I should actually address them. Have already reached out to my therapist about that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:08 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've often joked that "I have more money issues than a subscription to Forbes," but I think this is a sign I should actually address them. Have already reached out to my therapist about that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:08 AM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I hate that my ENTIRE DAY TODAY AND TOMORROW is just going to be keying a bunch of boring sentences onto people's records over and over and over and over again. I have nothing else to do all day long but boring lists and boring proofreading after I finish this list, because people literally don't know where they live and can't put down a coherent address, because the supposedly smart people that are our clientele can't figure out where they live.
Condolences. Sounds truly like a drag. Hopefully the work only requires a minimum of concentration, so that your imagination is free to roam where it wants. Good headphones and good tunes help a lot too.
This is the sort of tedious repetitive work that AI has and will continue to take over. Things like automatic address validation and completion utilities already exist.
I don't know if that is good news, or bad news for you, Jen.
Ideally, AI could free up people to do more creative and fulfilling work. (... but then, companies do this). So... I dunno.
posted by Artful Codger at 11:15 AM on June 16, 2023
Condolences. Sounds truly like a drag. Hopefully the work only requires a minimum of concentration, so that your imagination is free to roam where it wants. Good headphones and good tunes help a lot too.
This is the sort of tedious repetitive work that AI has and will continue to take over. Things like automatic address validation and completion utilities already exist.
I don't know if that is good news, or bad news for you, Jen.
Ideally, AI could free up people to do more creative and fulfilling work. (... but then, companies do this). So... I dunno.
posted by Artful Codger at 11:15 AM on June 16, 2023
In other news, I got the bathroom deep cleaned to a level it hasn't been in probably over a year, and that involved replacing a burned out light bulb so thank goodness I cleaned because I can SEE EVERY SURFACE SO REALLY WELL NOW. [caps imitating the intensity of the new light]
I still need to get this spare bedroom dealt with. I got all the easy stuff put away and now I'm to the "okay, this involves actually making a new decision about where things go" part, and that's emotional labor I'm not doing quite yet. I'm task avoiding big time on this but I'm going to have to break down and just do the thing.
Anyone got a movie to recommend?
posted by hippybear at 12:46 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I still need to get this spare bedroom dealt with. I got all the easy stuff put away and now I'm to the "okay, this involves actually making a new decision about where things go" part, and that's emotional labor I'm not doing quite yet. I'm task avoiding big time on this but I'm going to have to break down and just do the thing.
Anyone got a movie to recommend?
posted by hippybear at 12:46 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, a year or two ago I started putting ice cubes into my boy cat's water bowl on hot days, and now he will just sit in the kitchen and yowl at me if he thinks his water needs to be colder.
He takes his duty of "I'm a pet, you must spoil me" very seriously.
posted by hippybear at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2023
He takes his duty of "I'm a pet, you must spoil me" very seriously.
posted by hippybear at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2023
hippybear, you can rarely go wrong with Miyazaki -- My Neighbor Totoro is the obvious go-to, but time spent watching Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, or Ponyo is never time wasted.
posted by Quasirandom at 1:00 PM on June 16, 2023
posted by Quasirandom at 1:00 PM on June 16, 2023
When AI replaces me, I'm toast. A lot of us are going to be completely useless to employ :( Nobody ever valued creative work before, doubt that'll change.
On work again, I'm still doing tedious stuff our broken-ass computer systems cannot handle and I had to work the front counter, but thank god it was only for 15 minutes and I only got asked stuff I knew. WHEW.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:02 PM on June 16, 2023
On work again, I'm still doing tedious stuff our broken-ass computer systems cannot handle and I had to work the front counter, but thank god it was only for 15 minutes and I only got asked stuff I knew. WHEW.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:02 PM on June 16, 2023
I can SEE EVERY SURFACE SO REALLY WELL NOW.
Something similar happened to me recently - I bought one of those big full-spectrum SAD lamps and set it up on the desk I use to WFH. The first time I turned it on, dear lord I had no idea how dusty the desktop had gotten! I mean, I try to keep it reasonably neat and clean, but...damn.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:09 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Something similar happened to me recently - I bought one of those big full-spectrum SAD lamps and set it up on the desk I use to WFH. The first time I turned it on, dear lord I had no idea how dusty the desktop had gotten! I mean, I try to keep it reasonably neat and clean, but...damn.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:09 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
« Older No Man's Skyrim | No talking, no texting... no unions? Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by srboisvert at 6:42 AM on June 12, 2023 [6 favorites]